Cable quizzes Darling

10.38.39am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 25th Apr 2008

' . .Is that not another case, as with the banks, of powerful companies running rings round ineffectual regulators and Ministers?'

[Apr 24] Vincent Cable: Why is it that three months after the Chancellor's high-profile intervention on electricity prices no action has been taken to refer the big, vertically integrated producers that suppress competition to the Competition Commission or to stop the blatant price discrimination against low-income metered consumers? Is that not another case, as with the banks, of powerful companies running rings round ineffectual regulators and Ministers?

Alistair Darling (Chancellor of the Exchequer, HM Treasury; Edinburgh South West, Labour): No, I do not accept that. What is clearly the case, especially over the past year or so, is that the prices being paid by businesses and consumers have gone up. A lot of that is to do with very high oil prices, which have remained far higher than people forecast even a year ago. Oil prices are significantly higher than they were then. We have a competitive market, but as the hon. Gentleman knows, Ofgem is looking into the situation. I raised it with Ofgem at the turn of the year, because I want to ensure that our market is competitive and that there are no anti-competitive practices.

Since then, the Government have also engaged with energy companies to get them to increase the amount of money that they spend on customers with low incomes and, crucially, to do something about the unfair high payments that were imposed upon customers with pre-payment meters who, by definition, were on lower incomes than everybody else. Action is being taken, but rather like with the hon. Gentleman's fairy tale on Monday, he might want to look at all the facts and not just some of them.